At the Forbes Sustainability Leaders Summit in New York this week, the venerable Dr. Jane Goodall sat down with Forbes senior editor Maggie McGrath and made her familiar case that “planet health” must sit at the center of economic decision-making. The image of the summit—held in New York on September 22–23, 2025—shows the event as another gathering of influential elites preaching big-picture fixes for the global economy. For everyday Americans watching, the question is straight-forward: whose jobs and wallets will be sacrificed to pay for these grand plans?
There is no denying Dr. Goodall’s lifetime of conservation work and her reputation as founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace, and conservatives respect genuine stewardship of God’s creation. Still, respect for a person’s credentials does not mean we should uncritically accept the prescription to subordinate economic liberty to an abstract notion of planetary health. Americans who actually produce goods, power our homes, and keep supply chains moving deserve a seat at the table before policies that remake entire industries are imposed from the penthouses.
Forbes and many summit speakers push urgency and ambitious climate action as if immediate shutdowns and heavy-handed regulation are the only moral choice. That is the same playbook we saw last year—rhetoric urging rapid decarbonization, end of fossil fuels, and sweeping policy changes that rarely account for the cost to workers or national security. Conservatives should challenge the one-size-fits-all approach and demand a realistic accounting of trade-offs before surrendering the economy to technocrats and virtue-signaling elites.
The conservative case is not climate denial; it is about common sense solutions that preserve prosperity while improving stewardship. Innovation, private investment, and market incentives have historically driven cleaner, cheaper energy far more effectively than top-down mandates and crippling taxes. If policymakers truly care about both people and the planet, they will prioritize energy independence, technological breakthroughs, and policies that protect jobs instead of bankrupting entire regions for a feel-good headline.
It’s also worth noting the audience and platform: Forbes events and paid-member content often cater to a narrow, affluent class that can afford premium access and private summits. That elite bubble has a habit of proposing solutions untouched by the daily realities of working Americans, from higher utility bills to lost manufacturing jobs. Conservatives will keep reminding leaders that real leadership listens to the shop floor as loudly as it listens to the boardroom.
Americans who treasure both liberty and the natural world can find common ground on stewardship without surrendering sovereignty or prosperity. We welcome conservationists like Dr. Goodall to the debate, but we will fight any policy that privileges fashionable ideology over the livelihoods of families, the security of the nation, and the freedoms that make innovation possible. The right path is clear: protect the environment through property rights, technological innovation, and market-driven conservation—not by handing more power to regulators and global elites who rarely face the consequences of their grand designs.
